Brewing Calculator v1.1
I have just uploaded a new version of Brewing Calculator. This new version adds the ability to switch units from Metric (Litres, Centigrade and Kilograms) to US Units (Gallons, Fahrenheit and Pounds). To do this just go to Menu > Units and then choose which one you want to use. By default it is using Centigrade, but your preferences are saved.
QR Code:
Renault Clio door Torx screwdriver
If you need to tighten the torx bolt that is used on the top hinge of a Renault Clio Mk2 door then you need a T40 Torx screwdriver.
I couldn't find that information on the net or in the Haynes manual so I've left it here for anyone who needs to know.
01:54 PMSky Map application for Android
I've just installed and tried out Sky Map. This application shows what you should be able to see in the night sky from your current location and the direction that you are pointing your phone. I think it is using the network location to determine your location as after a few seconds I get a message stating that it is now using the name of my nearest cell tower as its location. The direction that the phone is pointed in must be determined from the built in compass.
It is hard to tell how well this is working as I'm in London and it is somewhat overcast tonight, so there aren't many starts visible. From using Sky Map (assuming that it is correct) I could determine which stars I could see, and it seems I could even see Saturn. I will have to try this somewhere where I can actually see a descent number of stars. Will try it again in Leeds at the weekend, and see how I get on.
Try it out, scan this QR Code:
HTC Magic Android phone review
I'll upload photos tomorrow
I received my new Android phone on Saturday morning and have been playing with it most of the time since then so I think I should write a review on it. First off, the touch screen works well and you can smoothly scroll although sadly there is no funky multi point touch like you get in the iPhone. It is however smaller than the iPhone, of course that does mean there is less viewing space but it also means that it can fit easier into your pocket. Personally I'd rather it fit in my pocket. It comes with a few standard apps, that let you view your contacts, a browser, view Google Mail, Google Maps Google Calendar, send texts, you get the idea. This is a Google phone and is therefore built for Google stuff. There is a market place that you can use for searching for apps; this is much like the equivalent store for the iPhone. Text messages are displayed like gmail display emails: They are grouped up into conversations. It works well, although as there is no subject line to group by it is actually grouping by sender. Still, it is convenient to view all previous messages from someone.
There are a couple of issues I have with this phone. First off the bluetooth doesn't seem to work properly. I can't connect it to my Sony Ericsson K800i and so cannot copy my contacts over and although I can connect to my girlfriend's LG Renoir, I can't receive or send anything. In fact there is no option to send photos via bluetooth. This is a known issue. The other issue that I have with this phone is battery life. I've had to charge this phone at the end of every day, and today I took a couple of short phone calls (and had a twitter app running in the background), and then decided to hammer the battery for an hour by running a GPS logger app, but that caused it to die before the end of the day. I might keep my K800i in case I want to go somewhere for a few days without having to carry a charger with me. Fortunately the battery is removable so maybe I'll be able to get one that can hold more charge or at least some spares. Tomorrow I will turn off the bluetooth (as it doesn't do much for me) and the wifi and see how I get on. One other minor point is that there is no flash for the camera. That though, is a minor point as this is primarily a phone and not a camera.
The applications
Applications are held as icons on a launcher panel that raises from the bottom of the screen. You can also move apps onto the background for ease of access by simply holding down until it vibrates and then dragging the app to where you would like to position it. The app is still visible in the launcher panel.
0870
This app is free and automatically looks up any 0870 and 0845 calls that you might make against the database on SayNoTo0870 and changes the number to a number that you can get free with your contract minutes. I haven't tried it yet but have got it installed. It starts up silently in the background and doesn't display any icon when it is running.
Barcode Scanner
A handy app for doing a price comparison when out in a shop. I've successfully used this at Head(previously known as Zavvi) in Leeds. It uses the camera; you just have to point it at a barcode and it will send the barcode number to Google product search and come back with prices. Unfortunately doing that doesn't seem to pick up hmv.com but it does get play.com
BreakTheBlocks
A classic 80s arcade game. Fun for passing the time.
Labyrinth
Another game, this time inspired from the real life one involving a metal ball and a maze. This makes use of the accelerometers so that you tilt the board by tilting the phone.
GPS status 2
Haven't got any GPS reception as I'm indoors but you can just about make out the interface. It shows you the direction that you are currently heading and your speed. As I haven't got a GPS signal it is using its built in compass which gives limited information. I used this on the National Express train from Leeds to London to see the speed that we were travelling at, turns out it is 120mph most of the time. My Garmin Nuvi SatNav doesn't work in the train which suggests that the GPS receiver in this HTC Magic is actually more sensitive.
GPS Tracker
As its name suggests this tracks your location via GPS and then logs that information to a server at instamapper.com. Below is a track of the walk I did this afternoon before the phone died due to a flat battery.
Google Maps
Whilst talking about GPS I should mention the included Google Maps app. This allows you to follow your location which is pretty nice as you can then see exactly where you are which is what I did on my journey from Leeds to London. You can also use street view and then when you move the phone around, street view can follow you around.
Last.fm
Lets you listen to your radio station, although I've only really got it working well over wifi.
meebo
This is the best instant messaging app I've seen for the Android phone. The only other one I've tried heavily is Palring which isn't too bad but it does have a habbit of logging me out of the networks within about half an hour of my last activity. With meebo you need to visit meebo.com and set up a free account, probably best to do this using your regular computer. You can then add MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Facebook and many other protocol account onto it. You can then chat from within your browser, but more usefully you can now chat from an app running in the background on your Android phone. A message pops up in the notification area which is a small area at the top of the screen, click on that and you can enter your instant message conversation. Meebo keeps connected until I start using the connection a lot like browsing maps. I suspect that the phone can only handle so many network connections simultaneously before it has to drop something.
Metal Detector
Detects metal, but only about an inch away. Purpose of which is to wind up iPhone users. Meh.
NetMeter
Useful for monitoring how much data traffic is flowing in and out of your device. It can run in the background, with an icon in your notification area. You can then go back to it and view your traffic over the last 30 mins in data and graph format.
NewsRob
Lets you connect to and download feeds from Google Reader. Surprisingly a Google Reader didn't come with the phone. This does work well and caches up so that even if I haven't got a net connection I can read feeds.
Quickpedia
This is an interface to wikipedia. I could just search wikipedia and read the articles but this does a much better job of formatting for the smaller screen.
RPN Calcualtor
A scientific calculator. What more can I say? Does everything I need. A basic calculator does come with the phone but I can't stand those things, I've got all this power under my fingertips sitting in some ARM core processor; let me use it!
SMS Popup
This runs in the background and pops up text messages when you receive them like a 'normal' phone would. Normally on Android your texts appear in the notification area, along with emails, IM and tweets. This might be ok for many people but text messages are usually of higher importance for me and so I like to have them more in your face.
The Weather Channel
Lets you add multiple places to see the current weather and the weather for the next 10 days. Unfortunately the icon doesn't change to the current weather, you have to open the app to see it.
TubeStatus
Useful free app for those in London especially at the weekend when half the tubes are closed. Lists each of the tube lines (but not the DLR.) You can then click on any of them to read details about their closure.
Tube London City
This costs 99p, and was a waste of money. Fortunately I got my money back. It provided a map of the London underground and you could find out which lines were closed in a poorer interface than TubeStatus uses. You could do routing, but it didn't take into account the closed lines which IMHO is a worse than a waste of time, it is misleading. I'm quite capable of working out a route myself. My phone should take tube closures into account.
Twidroid
I couldn't get this working at first but after uninstalling and reinstalling it works great. Basically it is a free Twitter app. It lets you read tweets and get updates in your notification are regarding new tweets. You can write out a tweet, retweet and upload photos which are automatically stored on a website and a url provided.
Ultimate Stopwatch
This is simply a stopwatch and timer. Most phones have one of these but the Android doesn't. Nevermind, there is an app store to solve that.
01:08 AM