HTC Sensation: Software and Applications

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Senin, 02 Januari 2012

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation on sale at Php43.37 for 24 hours at the Android Market

Modern Combat: Fallen Nation is on sale at the Android Market for 24 hours. I am not sure when the 24 hour period ends, but it is sometime tomorrow night. Grab it while you can.

Rabu, 28 Desember 2011

How to get more free space from Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud computing service which can sync filed between Windows, Mac OSX and a Linux personal computers, and make those files retrievable from Android, iOS or BlackBerry device or any web browser.

Dropbox gives you 2 GB of online storage free, and you can earn up to 8 GB more making referrals at the rate of 250 MB per successful referral. If someone referred you to Dropbox you both get an additional 250 MB. You can also buy more online storage.

There is another way to earn more storage from Dropbox. You can complete some Twitter and Facebook related tasks and earn another 640 MB of storage at this link.

All in all, you can get 10.6 GB of free cross platform online storage from Dropbox. Here is a link to the Dropbox website. Give it a look.

Selasa, 27 Desember 2011

Gameloft Android Market Promo

Gameloft, a well known developer of games for Android and iOS, has announced that is going to be offering discounts on all of its games on the Android Market. The games will reportedly be offered as a discounted price of 99 cents. This means you can get a games like Modern Combat: Fallen Nation which regularly sells for Php305 for as low as Php44.

Gameloft will announce the beginning of the discount on both Facebook and Twitter.

December 30 Update: The promo has started.

Minggu, 25 Desember 2011

Android user are from Mars, iPhone users from Venus...

...or it could be the other way around. Xyologic studied download patters better Android and iPhone users and found our Android users download mostly apps, while iPhone users download mostly games.

From the top 150 apps downloaded on each platform in November 2011, non-gaming apps on Android generated 91.5 million downloads in November compared to 33.4 million for games. On the iPhone, game downloads in November 2011 totalled 71.6 million while other apps received 25.6 million downloads.

Games accounted for 27% of the downloads from the Android market while games accounted for a whopping 74% of the downloads from the iOS App Store.

The top publishers of Android apps were Google and Facebook, while the top publishers of iPhone apps were Glu Mobile and Gameloft, with Google and Facebook not coming in the top 25.

There are many ways to interpret this data, but it does look like in addition to phone functions, Android owners are more likely to use their devices as for Social Networking and while iPhone owners are more likely to use their devices as mobile gaming platforms.

Kamis, 15 Desember 2011

Last day of the 10-cent Android Market sale

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5688870739795137027#editor/target=post;postID=3138225090378115466

Well, it is the last Day of the 10-cent per app sale at the Android Market. This is what Google brings us today, a total of 12 apps instead of the usual 10.

Well, it has been fun, but these are the last of the 10-cent offerings. Grab what you can :)

Rabu, 14 Desember 2011

Day 9 of the 10-cent Android Market sale

It is now the second to the last day of the Android Market sale, and for Day 9, this is what Google is offering at 10-cents a piece.

It's a good day. I picked up ezPDFReader (already have Swiftkey).

Selasa, 13 Desember 2011

Day 8 of the 10-cent Android Market sale

Here is what Google has for us on Day 8 of its 10-cent Android Market sale:

A lot of repeat apps on sale today, but I picked up FlightTrack so I am a happy camper.

Senin, 12 Desember 2011

Day 7 of Google 10-cent app promo

Here are the discounted offerings for day seven of the Android Market 10-cent app sale:

Minggu, 11 Desember 2011

Day 6 of Google 10-cent app promo

Day six of the Android Market 10-cent app sale sees eight new apps and the return of two: Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro and Great Little Whiine 6: Asphalt HD.

Returning apps is not a bad thing. After passing on Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro on Day 1 because I do not need it, I reconsidered my lifestyle and decided and should change it so that I do need this app. I also picked up SimCity.

Sabtu, 10 Desember 2011

Day 5 of Google 10-cent app promo

A bit late, but here are the current offerings:

Unfortunately, I could not buy Pano with my credit card on the discounted price through my phone Market App (it gives me the message that my card is not valid for payment for this transaction) though I have bought others at the 10-cent price. I decided to try from the desktop and was able to buy Pano! I wish I new this two days ago :(

Jumat, 09 Desember 2011

Day 4 of Google's 10-cent app promo

It is now day 4 of Google's 10-cent app promo... and here is what we have today.

I did not buy anything in Day 3 and wondering when they give Flight Track is offered for 10-cents (it is in the banner after all). I will leave you to ponder what to buy as I do the same.

Kamis, 08 Desember 2011

Third day of Google 10 cent app promo

We are now in the third day of Google's 10-cent app promo in celebration of reaching the 10-billion download milestone on the Android Market. I picked up three of the first 20 apps on promo: Sketchbook Mobile, Soundhound and Read It Later Pro. For some reason I could not buy Paper Camera and Sky Chart while they were on discount with my credit card. I guess it has something to do with minimum authorized purchase prices across some jurisdictions.

I noticed the new apps for the day start showing up at about 12-noon UTC. The apps of the previous day continue to be on discount for a few hours after the new ones show up, so as many as 20-apps are on discount.

Anyway, here is the list of apps for today.

Happy shopping.

Rabu, 07 Desember 2011

10-cent (Php4.33) App promo at the Android Market - Day 2

Looking at the Android Market on its second day of it 10-cent app promo we noticed the following apps are being offered at the discounted price:

I decided to buy Read It Later Pro.

The ten apps offered yesterday at 10 cents are still being offered at the discounted prices as of this writing.

This promotion is part of Google celebration for the having reached the milestone of one billion downloads from the Android Market.

Selasa, 06 Desember 2011

10-cent (Php4.33) App promo at the Android Market

It looks like Christmas has come early to the Android Market. Several apps are now being offered at a discounted price of 10 cents, or Php4.33. Apparently, this is in celebration of the Android Market having hit 10 billion downloads.

Here are a list discounted titles found:

GiGaOM posted that this promo will last for ten days, and expects new apps on discount everyday for the next ten days.

Swiftkey is my keyboard of choice on Android. If you are still using the stock keyboard, it is a must have, and at Php4.33, a no braniner. I promptly upgraded my free versions of SketchBook Mobile and Sound Hound to the paid versions. Unfortunately, for some reason, my credit card is not valid for a purchase of paper camera.

Kamis, 10 November 2011

Adobe is ceasing development for the Flash Player plugin for mobile browsers

Flash Player plugin for mobile browsers. Adobe is ceasing development for the Flash Player plugin for mobile browsers. What does this mean for users?

If you have a Flash enabled Android or BlackBerry device it will continue to work. Adobe today release one more feature update to Abobe Flash Player 11 for mobile, version 11.1. After that Abobe will release security updates and bug fixes for Abobe Flash Player. When version Flash Player 12 rolls out, there won't be a browser plugin for the mobile browsers.

If you have a device that does not support the Abobe Flash Player 11 for mobile at the present time, well the Flash plugin for the mobile browser is not coming to your device ever.

One day we won't need Flash...

... but for the next 2-3 years or even longer, it is still great to have it.

HTML5. The Flash Player plugin for mobile browsers promised a common web experience between desktop browsing and mobile browsing. A large segment of the community has been against Flash because it is a proprietary format owned by Adobe. Apple banned Flash from its iOS devices. More recently, Microsoft announced that the Windows 8 Metro browser will not be supporting Flash. On the Android camp, many Android devices do not support the Flash Player plugin for mobile browsers. HTML5 is the web standard which the opponent of Flash have supported as its replacement.

Premature departure? HTML5 will probably develop to the point where it could replace Flash. It looks like it will be trust to the limelight a year or two early. The strength of Flash was that it was run on a third party plugin from a common source. Whether you run Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera, Flash content was run by the a single common plugin so it operated the same across all browsers.

While the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera all support Flash, each browser interprets things in its own way. Basically, in a way it is like going back a decade. We are going back to the days where sites announced "This Site is Optimized for Internet Explorer".

... or maybe "This Site Does not Run on Internet Explorer. Amazon's HTML5 KIndle Cloud Reader page does not run on IE, iPhone's and Android phones and tablets.

Expect to see a HTML5 standards war for the next year or two. At present, there is still no single common standard for HTML 5. On this matter, IMC Germany writes:

It is important to understand that HTML is (not yet) a medium which can make content available in the same format on all browsers and end devices. The more complex the content becomes (animations, interactions, sound, video etc.), the more complex is the development and quality assurance process to guarantee the correct display in the required browsers and on end devices. It is therefore also important to hold an intensive discussion with the project participators before beginning the project, asking the question: Which features need to be implemented and in which browsers and on which end devices should it then be possible to access the content?

As the HTML5 standard develops, expect web developers to build a safer more conservative web to minimize browser compatibility issues.

There are other features still missing on HTML5. HTML5 still does not support Digital Rights Management protection. So if a video were posted in the web using HTML5, anyone could right click and save the file on their computer. It would appear Flash will still be use for displaying copyright protected work online.

eLearning is another area where HTML5 is not yet ready to tackle. If you build an online exam in HTML5 a student could right click on the browser and view the page source to reveal the answers. Given that low cost mobile devices are important for eLearning, this gap can be bridged by apps instead.

There are many more examples, but basically HTML5 is not ready to replace Flash for all uses.

Dual web? Having killed Flash Player plugin for mobile browsers, I think it would probably better if Flash were killed all together. Adobe is not getting out of Flash altogether. The direction it wants it developers to go is to create Flash apps using Adobe AIR and HTML5 for mobile. One desktops, Adobe plans to use its Flash Player plugin and HTML5.

If Abode succeeds in its now direction, there will never be a common web for mobile and desktop devices and things will continue as they do today with many websites have dedicated mobile and desktop versions.

While a "compromised" version of the web is probably acceptable to most on a mobile phone, tablets with their larger screens should offer a full web experience. Right now it would seem the only way for a tablet to offer a offer a full web experience is not for Flash to come to the tablet browser but for Flash to get out of the web altogether. BlackBerry has announced it will continue to support Flash on its own PlayBooks browser.

Even if Flashed use did stop altogether, it will be a long time before all the Flash content on the web becomes irrelevant.

Sabtu, 05 November 2011

Another Apple Siri versus Android Speaktoit showdown, this time from the UK

Virtual Assistants are all the rage these days with all the media attention around Apple and Siri. I myself, was not as excited since I have been using Vlingo as a Virtual Assistant, but really do not use it much. Vlingo works fine, I guess I am not the type who like to speak out commands. But, than again I am a bit of an old bloke used to doing things the old way.

Vlingo was my choice because I find to be useful in the only place a use it, while driving in a car. This is because Vlingo has a completely hands free mode. Vlingo works, but does not have much in terms of "personality."

After watching the nice people over at HardwareZone in Singapore test Apple's Siri versus Android Speaktoit I gave the app a try. Speaktoit does have a personality. How much personality? My wife commented, "Oh no, geeks are trying to create their own robot girl friends."

Not having an iPhone 4S to compare to Speaktoit, here instead is a YouTube video from someone who does:

Actually, based on my own use, Speaktoit does much more than this short comparison shows, but it does serve the purpose of a head-to-head.

Again, Speaktoit does seem like the better of the two apps. For places and navigation, Siri is still pretty useless outside the USA.

Here is a link to Speaktoit on the Android Market.

Kamis, 03 November 2011

Apple Siri versus Android Speaktoit Assistant

HardwareZone tests Apple's iPhone 4 and its Siri Virtual Assistant versus a HTC Desire HD and Speaktoit Assistant. The results are kind of surprising.

From the tests, it looks like HTC Desire HD and Speaktoit Assistant was the clear winner, with Asian accents and places at least.

You can read their entire Apple iPhone 4S review at this link.

Jumat, 28 Oktober 2011

Halloween threat from Gameloft

Gameloft is offering three games at a discounted price of just US$0.99 (Php42.43) as a promotion this Halloween season. This promotion applies to sale over the Android Market.

Link to Uno at the Android Market

Link to Order & Chaos at the Android Market

Link to Backstab at the Android Market

Rabu, 26 Oktober 2011

Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710

Nokia launched two Windows power smartphones today, the Nokia Lumia 800 and Lumia 710.

The Nokia Lumia 800 takes its place as Nokia new flagship, with a curved 3.7-inch 480 x 800 resolution ClearBlack AMOLED LCD, encased in a stylish black, cyan or magenta case. Inside is a 1.4GHz processor, 512MB or RAM, 16GB of internal storage and maybe its best feature, a 8MP camera with f/2.2 Carl Zeiss Tessar lens with a dual led flash and a dedicated camera button. On paper at least, this should be better than the camera on the Apple iPhone 4S and on any Android phone.

A bit perplexing is the absence of a front camera. That is one feature that distinguishes a Windows Phone 7 device from a Windows Phone 7.5 device.

As with other Windows Phone 7.5 Mango devices, it comes with 25GB of free SkyDrive. Over and above this Nokia added Nokia Drive, a free turn-by-turn voice navigation program. This is the first Windows Phone to come with free turn-by-turn voice navigation. Nokia Drive voice navigation works in the Philippines. Google Maps navigation, found in the Android phones and the iPhone, works here to, but without turn-by-turn voice support.

In addition, Nokia added a new service called Nokia Music with Mix Radio and an ESPN Sports Hub.

It seems a bit like deja vu, a potentially great camera, free turn-by-turn navigation, but this time instead of a Symbian packing N8, we have a Windows power Lumia 800. Retail price is US$585, which should put it at around Php26,000 to Php28,000 locally. A bit more expensive than we were expecting, but I think this will sell really well here.

The other phone announced is the was the Nokia Lumia 710 which sports a 3.7-inch 480 x 800 resolution ClearBlack LCD,a 1.4GHz processor, 512MB or RAM, 8GB of internal storage and a 5MP camera. We expect this phone to retail locally at about Php16,000 to Php18,000.

Well, that's all. Right now Nokia's Windows Phone 7 line-up looks a bit thin.

Selasa, 25 Oktober 2011

HTC partners with Dropbox to give 5GB of online storage to HTC Androidphones

HTC has entered into a partnership with Dropbox to give 5GB of online storage to HTC Android phones. HTC posted this on their Facebook page. I am not sure if this offer only applies to new HTC devices or even older HTC Android phones.

Dropbox provide free online storage to all Android, BlackBerry and iOS devices, although only 2GB free storage is given. You can earn additional storage by completing some tasks or referring other users to get up to 10GB.

HTC Windows Phone 7 devices do not get this. Dropbox does not have a Windows Phone 7 app. Windows Phone 7 devices do have 25GB of Skydrive storage, but it is not the same thing as having Dropbox storage.

Dropbox syncs your offline files to online storage whenever you have an internet connection. If you have several desktops or laptops it will sync your files across your devices. You can also share files to other Dropbox users. You can also access your online files via any web browser. Dropbox works across multiple platforms which include Windows, Mac OSX and Linux making even it more useful.

Basically, Skydrive only allows you to upload files, and share what you uploaded.