Beckka's Tech blog.: 2010

July 08, 2010

Foursquare’s Next Game: Choose Your Own Adventure?

Oh this could be fun. I always did enjoy the chose your own adventure type books.

June 26, 2010

The best Google Android 2.2 specs and upgrades - by Amanda Fox - Helium

Google Android 2.2 “Froyo” which is short for “Frozen yogurt” is the seventh platform release in the line of Android technology which launched in September of 2008. Google Android 2.2 has been hotly anticipated by consumers because unlike some earlier upgrades which were a bit pedestrian, Froyo is a significant upgrade in 5 key areas of performance and available services. While Google Android 2.2 was rumored for quite awhile, it was officially introduced to the public on may 20, 2010, and the following 5 areas were highlighted as the best Google Android 2.2 spec upgrades and services.

The Dalvik JIT compiler was the banner announcement as this greatly enhances performance. The cited improvement is on the magnitude of a 2-5X range over the performance of its predecessor Google Android 2.1 Éclair. The earliest demonstrations have held this claim to be accurate, but some tech gurus have cited that the 5x performance claim may be a bit ambitious when multiple applications are at work.

The browser is said to run 2-3x faster thanks to the V8 JavaScript engine that is now included as part of the 2.2 Android browser. That speed improvement estimate is again regarding comparison to Android 2.1, and is accurate, but again, not all techies are convinced that is going to be that big an improvement over rumored similar upgrades from different developers hinted at later in the year.

New enterprise capabilities have been added which include calendar sync, account auto-discovery, and API’s that are going to give developers the ability to write applications that enhance security features like lock screen timeouts, remote wipes, and minimum password. As security features are always a worry this is a big deal even if it is not the most highly touted upgrade to Google Android 2.2.

Google Android 2.2 will offer a great new set of API’s and services. With this upgrade, users can count on API’s that have great data backup and restore features, as well as the ability to allow apps to restore the last data it held when it was installed or the device was reset. You will be able to take advantage of features like Android Cloud, two way push synch functionality, and apps that can be stored internally or on a SD card if designated as such by their developers. You can also expect to have Skia bitmap access.

The final Google Android 2.2 upgrade that was highlighted at the official announcement was the wealth of new additions to the Android Market. There will now be Android Application error reports, and a bug reporting feature which is significant. Now rather than having to waste time figuring out where to make bug reports, there will be one central location which saves users time as well as developers and enables quicker resolutions to errors.

Other features user will enjoy include:

* Home screen tips widget which makes configuring the home screen with shortcuts and widgets easier and enables the use of multiple home screen configurations.

* Global address list look-up will allow auto-complete of of recipient names on your messages from any name stored in your directory.

* Camera Gallery allows users to zoom in on picture stacks

* New onscreen buttons allow for controlling camera features like flash, zoom, geo-tagging, focus, exposure, and white balance.

* The camcorder feature will no allow video/size quality defaults directly suited for YouTube and MMS.

* The LED Flash now allows for low-light nighttime video recording.

* Portable WiFi Hotspot allows for sharing of up to 8 devices

* Multiple keyboard languages in one touch

* A kernel Memory boost which allows for a 20x improvement in memory reclaim which allows for faster app switching.

* Stagefright will support local file playback and HTTP progressive streaming

* OpenCore support

* BlueTooth

* Cloud Messaging

Regardless of any worries that some may have that speed and performance estimates may be a bit over inflated, there is plenty going on with Google Android 2.2 Froyo to be pleased with. Granted it will be obsolete technology in some regards within a year compared to upcoming upgrades, but for most people these upgrades and added features will be more than sufficient to make this a must have platform that can be serviceable for a couple if not more depending on individual needs.

Sources:

Android Developers market

Google I/O release notes

June 12, 2010

Tip: Market App Issue in Froyo | Droid Life: A Motorola Droid Blog

Woo a fix for the Market Issue with Froyo. Though one program says it's not compatible with Froyo, but I guess I can live without it for now.

June 10, 2010

Froyo Screen Shots

So last night, I finally rooted my droid to put the Froyo updates that had been coming out on it.

If you are wondering about my wallpaper, that's the 360 stage from U2. Loving Froyo so far, though was able to confirm that they didn't make the one big change to Gmail that I had hoped they would. The ability to edit your reply. But I do like the way it looks, and that could still come since this isn't the "Official" Release.

Big Thanks to Droid-life.com for putting up all the details on how to do this!

Rumor: Google Voice via Gmail Being Tested

From Android Guys

It's being rumored that Google is testing their Google Voice services and features through integration with Gmail. Rather than relying on a phone to make calls, users would see a pop-up window with a dialpad, contacts, and a credit balance. If true, this would be a major step forward to getting Google Voice over IP, and possibly someAndroid integration down the road. TechCrunch reported back in April that Google was testing a desktop application that allowed for making and receiving calls. Could this be the same thing?

One thing is for certain, something is going on with Google Voice and Gmail. How do I know? Try this - Try to create a label in Gmail called "voicemail".

"Sorry, you can't create a label named "voicemail" (it's a reserved system label).
Please try another name:"

This would be pretty sweet.

June 07, 2010

AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui On The FTC, Competing With Apple, And Google’s Mobile Plans (Video)

Some interesting thoughts on what might happen with the future of Ads for a Smart Phone market.

Thanks guys at Tech Crunch!

June 03, 2010

Is your Droid Incredible low on disk space? | ZDNet

Interesting article on zdnet, about HTC phones. Hopefully they can get this fixed soon. My Droid will yell at me once in awhile about space, but that's usually when I am using up a ton of space.

LIfeHacker: Make Unlimited Free Calls on Your Cellphone with Google Voice

Recently I was talking with a friend of mine about how to lower your cell phone usage while working on Events. Someone else suggested using Google Voice and that it wouldn't count towards the cell phone minutes. On it's own, it doesn't, but there are work around for it that will limit the amount of cell phone minutes used or the type of minutes used.

A quick Search took me to the Life Hacker Website, which had a wonderful article on it. (Reposted encase they ever take it down.)

Make Unlimited Free Calls on Your Cellphone with Google Voice

Make Unlimited Free Calls on Your Cellphone with Google Voice

Most cellphone carriers provide a feature allowing you a certain number of contacts that you can call, on any network, for free, anytime. So what happens when you team up this feature with your Google Voice number?

In yesterday's Tips Box post, one reader used his cellphone provider's "My Circle" feature to make unlimited free calls with Google Voice.

The idea is that if you only use Google Voice to send and receive calls—and you set Google Voice so that it only displays your Google Voice number when it rings, all of your calls will be free, and you may never need to use another minute again. Each carrier is different, so we're looking at what each plan looks like, and how to use it with Google Voice to get free calls.

For this to work at all, head to Google Voice's Call Settings page and make sure Caller ID is set to Display my Google Voice number. (See the screenshot) Then just add your Google Voice number to your carrier's respective friends and family plan.

Verizon

Verizon's plan is called Friends & Family, and it allows you to pick 5 or 10 numbers (for individual and family plans, respectively), that you can call for free—even landlines. This deal comes with either the Family SharePlan with 1400 Anytime Minutes or more, or on the Single-Line Plan with 900 Anytime Minutes or more. If you're not on one of these plans, you might have to do a little math to see if upgrading for free calls is worth it. To add numbers to your Friends & Family list, just sign in to My Verizon.

AT&T

AT&T just rolled out their feature, called A-List, and it is almost exactly the same as Verizon's. 5 or 10 numbers, depending on your plan, which has to be at least 900 minutes for individuals and 1400 for families. With AT&T you still have Rollover, too, so you get to keep the minutes that you save with Google Voice (in theory, at least—although, that hardly seems like it matters if you're not using any in the first place). You can update your list online, through your myWireless account on AT&T's web site.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile's plan, myFaves, is a little bit simpler. If you have a plan that costs over $49.99 a month, you qualify for myFaves, which allows you 5 numbers that you can call for free. The best part about T-Mobile's plan, as opposed to Verizon and AT&T's, is that if you are on a family plan, each person gets 5 numbers to themselves – they don't have to share 10 with the rest of the family (this is nice if you have a big family; of course, we only need 1 number, and that's Google Voice). To get myFaves and edit your list, you just need to log into your My T-Mobile account.

Sprint

Sprint is the biggest wild card in this situation. Sprint, unlike the other carriers, does not heavily advertise their plan, called Pick 3. In fact, it's not mentioned anywhere on their web site. Word of the plan has spread through internet word-of-mouth, however, though there are a lot of conflicting messages on how to get it, or whether it still exists. So at the moment, the jury seems out on this one—try calling Sprint and see if you can get them to sign you up, and let us know in the comments what did or didn't work for you.

That brings me to the last part: We at Lifehacker are but a few men and women, and we haven't been able to exhaustively test whether this Google Voice trick works on various carriers. We've seen lots of anecdotal evidence on the internet and from our readers, at least for AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile, but many of you mentioned in the Tips Box post that it didn't work when you tried it, so we're enlisting your help testing this out.

If you have a Google Voice account and qualify for one of the above plans, try adding your Voice number and see if the minutes show up on your bill—and let us know about it in the comments! We'll update the post once we have some definitive information on what does and doesn't work.

FroYo Preventing Access to Certain Apps in the Market | Androidheadlines.com

Forward locking, Glad someone finally mentioned it. But basically, some developers when they list their programs in the market, have an option to reduce the risk of it being pirated that also prevents the app from being in stalled on a developer phone or an unreleased device.

So if you want to use some of those apps, you might just have to wait till the official release.

LogMeIn

So everyone seems to swear by this site, called LogMeIn.com for using for remote access to your computer, or my grandmother's computer when she breaks it. Well They also have an Android App that is currently in Beta.

LogMeIn Android works fairly well. I was a little confused at first when I couldn't make the mouse pointer move, but you have to move the screen to where you want to click is in the center where the pointer is.

Woo

New Blog! I figured I would try to post cool things I see out there in the Tech & Android World.
Just encase you are wondering, I have a Motorola Droid, Currently running stock 2.1 I'm looking forward to the 2.2 update, and Yes I know I should root my phone, I just haven't found anything that has caught my eye yet.