Thursday, February 12, 2009

Five best Android apps for your G1

It's been a while since T-Mobile's G1 android device launched. And if you wonder what is so special about Android-powered cellphones such as G1, then just like any other OS, it is the applications that make the difference.

Here we will do a quick review of five most interesting Android application according to MobileChoiceUK.
This app is built on a simple idea, that you need assistant or mentor, or whatever you call it, when you cook. It combines video of cooking, shopping instruction, and cooking instruction. Though quite likely you need to have wide enough table or big enough pocket to keep your G1 safe while cooking :)

Never get lost again with Wikitude. This uber application stands out because it combines GPS power with map application and more.. it has interactive database, which I call, on-the-fly guide. So you can use your camera handset, and Wikitude will tell you what you see. This is awesome. As the official site says :
The truly compelling feature is the augmented reality cam view, users may hold the phone’s camera against a spectacular mountain range and see the names and heights displayed as overlay mapped with the mountains in the camera. Users may look out of an airplane window to see what is down there. Users may walk through a city like Seville, Spain, holding the phone’s camera against a building and Wikitude tells what it is.
To illustrate the point, let's check these pictures out :

An alley in Sevilla, where you can point your camera, and Wikitude tells you what building it is
City scenery, which you point G1's camera to it, and notifications from Wikitude depicts each building's name

As shoppers, we often compare prices before we buy something. Now in mobility era, you might ask how to compare prices on the go, with your cellphone. Well, one of the answer is using Shop Savvy. It is designed to scan a product barcode, then tell you the comparison of price across local stores and online stores. This is excellent because it saves your time and effort to gather prices online. Although does not work 100% as it is still in beta, and it is not always easy to scan the barcodes, you can download and try it here.

You scan the bar code until it beeps and green notification appears

then web price and local price appears on screen
If you hang out with your friends and dine out in a casual restaurant, of course you had ever experienced calculating and dividing the tip, which could be very awkward and uncomfortable. You have to calculate fast, and you then divide it to how many people dine together. This is where Tipper plays its role. Tipper looks very simple, but it does the job well.

You can input simple numbers, how many people pay the tips, the percentage of tip, and how many each diner pays. Straightforward and useful.


verybody loves Mario, and Mario kicks again aboard G1. The great thing is, you control Mario using the built-in motion sensor. Very fun as you move your G1, and Mario will jump. You move right, Mario walks. No wonder this simple application is very attractive.
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Gigabyte will introduce new Win-mo S1200 smartphone soon

The Taiwanese manufacturer, Gigabyte, will announce a new Win-mo smartphone, the S1200 . No further details except it will run Win-Mo 6.1 and powered by 528MHz Qualcomm 7200A CPU.



We can expect it must have HSDPA and full office editor and 8 MP camera, not to mention support to modern lifestyle features such as Facebook Mobile, Flickr, YouTube all installed inside. Otherwise it canoot become a device that Unwiredview says it will be, an "Iphone killer"

Let us hang on and see what Gigabyte has to offer us. In the meantime, Iphone and Nokia 5800 still rocks!

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A former Palm employee is uncertain about Pre's marketability

Following the news from Palm itself that there will be no more PalmOS used in Palm devices and that they will use the new WebOS in its Pre handsets, it is interesting to see what a former Palm employee thinks about Pre.

His name is Michael Mace, and he is one of the leading experts in the industry. As quoted from Precentral.net :
"Mobile devices that sell well usually have a well-defined market of people who look at them and say, "that one's perfect for me."... [The Pre is] apparently perfect for people who want a compromise between a Blackberry and an iPhone, but don't need the best of either. Who are those people? And are there enough of them to make a business for Palm? I honestly don't know."


WebOS is said to be a 'hybrid concept' of Blackberry OS and Iphone. But has Palm done their homework before launching it? It seemed that Pre did not have the pull factor required, or any other definitive killer features to make users switch.

The latest news quoted from Engadget shows that Pre can do bluetooth tethering, but the lack of MicroSD is almost unforgiven. How can Palm release microSD slot-less device while other established manufacturers, such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and BlackBerry always provide one?

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i-mate 810F : the first Windows Mobile in military standard casing


Well, this smartphone may not be for everyone. While most of you who use smartphones do not work in dusty, outdoor environment, i-mate provides an option for you who do. Open that email, browse with your favorite mobile IE, and edit more Word documents, on the go, in the field, under the rain if necessary, with the new i-mate 810F.

It is a win-mo device, protected with military standard casing. An interesting offer. And no, you don't have to be a geologist or archaeologist to feel the benefit of the device protective feature. Sometimes we feel the urgent need to answer that call or send that sms under the rain. Or sometimes our phone fall to our bathtub during those lazy Saturday morning bath. Then, this i-mate fellow will do the trick to get out of those situations alive and kicking.

Dust resistant, shock resistant, water resistant, operating temperature from -10 C to 60 C. Military standard in short. Additional features include GPS, impact resistant touchscreen display (though undefined yet what kind of impacts it can go through), 2 MP camera, built-in digital compass, and quite quick 624 Mhz processor for present standard. Unclear how many RAM it will have, or whether external memory slot is present. But any serious Win-mo device should have the slot.

Source : Unwiredview, Mobilechoice
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