| Android: Budget Droid | |
| By Binod on3/2/2009 6:27 AM | |
| I remember the days when I used to get advice from my parents about how to spend my earnings and keep to a budget. Back in 2005, when I started earning, I didn’t plan a budget and so at the end of every month I’d remember what my parents said and realize they actually knew what they were talking about! After spending for 4 years, I have realized how important the advice of my parents was and I have finally learned what the word Budget means!
Everybody has their own way to budget their expenses but I guess, I do it in a smarter way. Yes! I just do it on my T-Mobile G1 using Budget Droid. Budget Droid is an app for the Android Platform that helps me to budget out my expenses even when I am on the go. If you have an Android powered device, you can grab the the application from Android Market. ![]()
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| Get SMS Popping on Android | |
| By Binod on2/25/2009 4:54 AM | |
| If you are using an Android powered G1 smartphone then you’ll know that when you get an SMS you get a notification in the notification bar, LED or alert tone (depending on your settings) and to read the message you have to wake your mobile up from sleep, which is bit annoying. To make your life easier with the G1, you can install an application called SMS Popup from Android Market. The application is absolutely free and tremendously enhances the SMS text message notifications system for Android phones. With SMS Popup you get instant visual notification even when the phone is in sleep or an application is running. That’s how it works on the iPhone and now with this app you can have th ... | | | Comments (1) | More... |
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| Google Android News Round-up | |
| By Binod on2/19/2009 10:06 AM | |
| Google Android News Round-up
Over the last few weeks a lot of new things have happened in the Android industry so today I thought I’d report on some of the most happening news in my blog.
Vodafone HTC Magic Announced
Yesterday, HTC and Vodafone officially announced the HTC Magic, their second smartphone based on Google Android. The specifications include a 3.2” touch screen running at 320x480 HVGA resolutions. Unlike the T-Mobile G1, the HTC Magic doesn’t have any hardware keyboard; instead it has an on-screen keyboard to make the device slimmer than the G1. Initially the HTC Magic will be available in Europe through Vodafone.
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| The RC33 Update and Me | |
| By Binod on2/16/2009 8:17 AM | |
| Just thought I’d post a quick blog to say that I have noticed the following changes on my G1 after the RC33 update: - Android Market is out of Beta.
- In this update, the name of T-Mobile has been removed from the contribution list.
- Now I am not able to open the in-call dialpad by a single tab. Instead I need to touch and drag it.
- Now the default mail checking interval has changed to “15 minutes” instead of “never”.
- Displays date and time according to my preference, like 24 hrs / AM PM.
- Now when I launch Map on my G1, a welcome message says: “Select “Latitude” from the Menu and try out this new feature.” Clear Map is now in more.
- Now I can see “Show dialpad” and “Hide dialpad” options in the in-call menu.
- Now I can save pictures received as ...
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| Updating your G1 to RC33 Without the Wait! | |
| By Binod on2/11/2009 12:13 PM | |
| Have you heard of the upcoming Android Firmware RC33 update? If you haven’t heard then let me tell you that this will be one of the most important firmware updates for the G1. Rumors are spreading all around the web that the update will be available between 2nd Feb and 15th Feb. Some of you might have come across some change logs. Well, the recent news is that the update is officially released and here are some details of the update: - Google Maps gets updated to include Google Latitude.
- Ability to check for new software updates.
- Report Comments in Android Market as spam.
- Display “Update Available” for previously downloaded (installed) applications.
- Save MMS Pictures.
- Google Voice Search.
I was happy to get this update yesterday. Here’s how to manually update your G1. But proceed with Caution!!& ... | | | Comments (0) | More... |
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| Give More Power to Your G1! | |
| By Binod on2/5/2009 7:35 AM | |
| I like listening to music all the time. I’ve alwsys got it on in the background – used to drive my Mom nuts! I often use my G1 as an MP3 player, including when I’m dozing off to sleep. It plays until the battery is fully drained which is a bit of a pain because then I have to be up and rushing off to the office. I often don’t have time to charge it. It wouldn’t matter what device I use for listening to music at night, the result would be the same. But to some extent, the G1 offers a poor battery life compared to other smartphones of the same range. However, you can customize your G1 in order to achieve better battery life. Here are some tips: Turn Off Everything
Respect your G1’s power  ! I mean to say, you need ... | | | Comments (0) | More... |
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| Hands on ShopSavvy, Scan Barcodes and Compare Products | |
| By Binod on1/30/2009 6:30 AM | |
| Hi folks. After trying out Skype Lite which I mentioned in my last blog, I installed ShopSavvy on my G1, a well known shopping application available for the Android platform. First of all, let me give you a basic idea what this application does. ShopSavvy can be installed on your Android Phone (G1) and can be used as a shopping assistant. It’s a barcode scanning application which uses the handset’s built-in camera to scan barcodes of any product. The application is totally free on Android Market and takes just few minutes to install.
When you launch the application you will be welcomed with five options.
The first opt ... | | | Comments (1) | More... |
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| Hands on Skype Lite Beta, Not Impressive! | |
| By Binod on1/20/2009 12:33 PM | |
| Hi folks and welcome back to tkArena. Last week I successfully turned my G1 to a working state and since then I’ve installed many applications on it. Last Friday I installed the Beta version of Skype Lite and I’ve spent some time working with it. In this blog I will highlight some of the points which don’t impress me. The installation process was very smooth and quick. After the installation I launched Skype Lite and signed in with my existing ID. My contact list appeared in less than a minute and I could clearly see who was online and who was offline. Till that point, everything was fine and dandy. I could chat with people in the similar way to the way I do on a desktop computer. The text was delivered properly and reached me in just couple of seconds. The thing which disappointed me is that when you sign in to Skype you are then at home screen and at that point you ju ... | | | Comments (0) | More... |
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| My G1 is Up and Running | |
| By Binod on1/13/2009 4:48 AM | |
| Hi folks, welcome back to tkArena. In my last blog post, I told you guys about the problems I was facing with my G1. It was locked and I was neither able to complete the Google setup process nor able to skip it. After digging deep into the internet, I have found the following solutions which could have made it workable: - Buy an unlock code over Internet.
- Borrow a T-Mobile data service activated SIM card from someone and complete the Google setup process.
In the beginning I thought that my mobile was locked to T-Mobile and I needed to unlock it but when I asked my boss to buy an unlock code, he told me that as far as he knows, the phone is unlocked and it should wo ... | | | Comments (2) | More... |
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| I Got My Hands on a T-Mobile G1! | |
| By Binod on12/30/2008 10:33 AM | |
| Last week, when my boss came back from abroad he brought with him an Android phone for me! Yes, T-Mobile’s G1, a white one. I was very happy to know that I finally had my hands on the phone I was waiting for for so long but in no time at all my happiness was ripped away. I was handed the phone and he said, play around with it and write some interesting content on it. I took the phone and ran to my cubical in excitement. The first thing I did was to show the phone to my colleague Jai, the person who got an iPhone a few months ago. He rarely allows me to touch his phone. He wanted to touch the T-Mobile G1 but I didn’t let him! 
So I switched on the phone to see what Android really looks like. After booting, I got a message “No SIM Card” so I grabbed the iPhone from Jai’s table (without him seeing) an ... | | | Comments (0) | More... |
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